From SIM (WSB2k3) to arcade (MLB2k5)

[Klownpoet]

Not going to get into a big discussion about this because the title pretty much states my opinion on the progression of the series. I do feel as if the most perfect playing baseball game released this generation was WSB 2k3. For some reason that game just did everything I wanted it to despite a few bugs here and there. I think in recent years with the addition of the arcade meter fest that is MVP, baseball developers have felt pressed to make their games conform to that similar format hoping to bring in the casual gamer . Nothing wrong with that, after all the idea is to sell as many games as possible, so I am not mad at Sega for trying to sell more units. What happens, however, is hardcore fans get left in the dust when the more flashy products come out. Right now I am enjoying playing MLB2k5. I think i is a fun game with some nice features and great presentation, but I can't help but feel as if it was developed with the thought of being/beating MVP instead of being the best representation of the sport of baseball available for home console... Your thoughts?

[Ed_Farias]

Re: From SIM (WSB2k3) to arcade (MLB2k5)

I agree with you, EA and 2k5 are in direct competition with each other. In order to make a profit on the game, they have to try and sell it to the majority of gamers that would not otherwise buy a baseball game. In the past, we had ASB to kind of off set this as it was my choice for my Sim game addiction. Looks like MLB 2006 will fill that void this year. I am happy 989 decides to take the game to the baseball ethusiasts realizing what the other two companies are trying to do.

However, I still have fun with both 2k5 and MVP and I am sure I will have a different kind of fun with mlb 2006 when it comes out next week .

[Ed_Farias]

Re: From SIM (WSB2k3) to arcade (MLB2k5)

I agree with you, EA and 2k5 are in direct competition with each other. In order to make a profit on the game, they have to try and sell it to the majority of gamers that would not otherwise buy a baseball game. In the past, we had ASB to kind of off set this as it was my choice for my Sim game addiction. Looks like MLB 2006 will fill that void this year. I am happy 989 decides to take the game to the baseball ethusiasts realizing what the other two companies are trying to do.

However, I still have fun with both 2k5 and MVP and I am sure I will have a different kind of fun with mlb 2006 when it comes out next week .

[blackceasar]

Re: From SIM (WSB2k3) to arcade (MLB2k5)

Not going to get into a big discussion about this because the title pretty much states my opinion on the progression of the series. I do feel as if the most perfect playing baseball game released this generation was WSB 2k3. For some reason that game just did everything I wanted it to despite a few bugs here and there. I think in recent years with the addition of the arcade meter fest that is MVP, baseball developers have felt pressed to make their games conform to that similar format hoping to bring in the casual gamer . Nothing wrong with that, after all the idea is to sell as many games as possible, so I am not mad at Sega for trying to sell more units. What happens, however, is hardcore fans get left in the dust when the more flashy products come out. Right now I am enjoying playing MLB2k5. I think i is a fun game with some nice features and great presentation, but I can't help but feel as if it was developed with the thought of being/beating MVP instead of being the best representation of the sport of baseball available for home console... Your thoughts?

1. Though you make SOME valid points in 5 minutes I have seen about 4 threads started by you on here and everyone is you complaining about something. Why dont you make one thread and call it KLOWNPOET'S GRIPES. Heck maybe they will make it a sticky so you can just keep adding to it.

2. Though Im happy to see Take Two pull the rug out from under EA with the baseball deal. It still sucks. I like MVP as well as this game. So I can go either way on that. EA did need someone to give them to finger though. But now they are going to be the only baseball game in town that will be across multiple platforms, they are going to some degree probably have to conform to the casual gamer. It sucks but this business is about money first, you and me second. Although I sympathise with you about hardcore gamers being left in the dust. We make up about 25% of the market share. The casual gamers make up the other 75%. If you couldnt please both crowds, and it were your company who would you target? I dont know why this is a suprise to you. This has been the practice of EA for YEARS now.

I guess we can only hope that Kush seperates itself from EA and actually innovates and makes an effort to take thier game to the next level ever year. Only time will tell. Compared to last year though its leaps and bounds better. For 20 bucks, Im cool with the game this year.

[blackceasar]

Re: From SIM (WSB2k3) to arcade (MLB2k5)

Not going to get into a big discussion about this because the title pretty much states my opinion on the progression of the series. I do feel as if the most perfect playing baseball game released this generation was WSB 2k3. For some reason that game just did everything I wanted it to despite a few bugs here and there. I think in recent years with the addition of the arcade meter fest that is MVP, baseball developers have felt pressed to make their games conform to that similar format hoping to bring in the casual gamer . Nothing wrong with that, after all the idea is to sell as many games as possible, so I am not mad at Sega for trying to sell more units. What happens, however, is hardcore fans get left in the dust when the more flashy products come out. Right now I am enjoying playing MLB2k5. I think i is a fun game with some nice features and great presentation, but I can't help but feel as if it was developed with the thought of being/beating MVP instead of being the best representation of the sport of baseball available for home console... Your thoughts?

1. Though you make SOME valid points in 5 minutes I have seen about 4 threads started by you on here and everyone is you complaining about something. Why dont you make one thread and call it KLOWNPOET'S GRIPES. Heck maybe they will make it a sticky so you can just keep adding to it.

2. Though Im happy to see Take Two pull the rug out from under EA with the baseball deal. It still sucks. I like MVP as well as this game. So I can go either way on that. EA did need someone to give them to finger though. But now they are going to be the only baseball game in town that will be across multiple platforms, they are going to some degree probably have to conform to the casual gamer. It sucks but this business is about money first, you and me second. Although I sympathise with you about hardcore gamers being left in the dust. We make up about 25% of the market share. The casual gamers make up the other 75%. If you couldnt please both crowds, and it were your company who would you target? I dont know why this is a suprise to you. This has been the practice of EA for YEARS now.

I guess we can only hope that Kush seperates itself from EA and actually innovates and makes an effort to take thier game to the next level ever year. Only time will tell. Compared to last year though its leaps and bounds better. For 20 bucks, Im cool with the game this year.

[Jeff_Conine]

Re: From SIM (WSB2k3) to arcade (MLB2k5)

I agree with you, EA and 2k5 are in direct competition with each other. In order to make a profit on the game, they have to try and sell it to the majority of gamers that would not otherwise buy a baseball game. In the past, we had ASB to kind of off set this as it was my choice for my Sim game addiction. Looks like MLB 2006 will fill that void this year. I am happy 989 decides to take the game to the baseball ethusiasts realizing what the other two companies are trying to do.

However, I still have fun with both 2k5 and MVP and I am sure I will have a different kind of fun with mlb 2006 when it comes out next week .

This appears to be filling the void that ASB has so coldly left this year. ASB did many things wrong, but the total package felt like baseball. I'm really enjoying the way this game plays after 5 games and a few slider tweaks, I'm getting that same "baseball" feeling from this game (maybe I'm simply blinded by Miller and Morgan). The games are quick, well-presented and the AI appears to be sound (bunts, steals, etc.), although I haven't witnessed any of the bugs yet.

Only time will tell....

[Jeff_Conine]

Re: From SIM (WSB2k3) to arcade (MLB2k5)

I agree with you, EA and 2k5 are in direct competition with each other. In order to make a profit on the game, they have to try and sell it to the majority of gamers that would not otherwise buy a baseball game. In the past, we had ASB to kind of off set this as it was my choice for my Sim game addiction. Looks like MLB 2006 will fill that void this year. I am happy 989 decides to take the game to the baseball ethusiasts realizing what the other two companies are trying to do.

However, I still have fun with both 2k5 and MVP and I am sure I will have a different kind of fun with mlb 2006 when it comes out next week .

This appears to be filling the void that ASB has so coldly left this year. ASB did many things wrong, but the total package felt like baseball. I'm really enjoying the way this game plays after 5 games and a few slider tweaks, I'm getting that same "baseball" feeling from this game (maybe I'm simply blinded by Miller and Morgan). The games are quick, well-presented and the AI appears to be sound (bunts, steals, etc.), although I haven't witnessed any of the bugs yet.

Only time will tell....

[jdros13]

Re: From SIM (WSB2k3) to arcade (MLB2k5)

I have never played WSB2k3 so I don't know about that game, but I played High Heat for a couple of years on PC and Console and liked it and that is considered a pretty "sim" game in the baseball videogame world. This game out of the box appears to be a big improvement over last years version. The only gripes so far I have are:

-Too many HR's (I was playing on All-Star though, and my too many HR game had Slam Zone on...only one of the HR's was a Slam Zone HR but that set up may allow for more...I'll find out in a week or so after I have played more).

-Not enough balls thrown by my pitcher (when I was Randy Wolf I was dominant...much less so with Brett Myers who actually walked one batter! I would imagine it is nearly impossible to miss with Pedro or the Unit with KZone though...once again we'll see)

-I suck at the new baserunning (but that is my fault for having uncoordinated thumbs last night...I'm sure I will get used to it and like it, it does give me more control than any other baseball game has ever given me).

Other than that, the presentation is great, graphics are a 1000% improvement over last season's engine, the game actually supports widescreen and doesn't stretch the players out when I put my TV in full mode, all of the major animations I saw last night seemed to be improved, there is no more flyball lock cutscene that drove me nuts in 2k4, and I thought the game was much more fun than 2k4 was. I don't tend to play around with sliders (I like to assume the programmers attempted to create a balanced game that works until proven otherwise). I'm pretty sure that if legend doesn't fix the HR problem I'll mess around with the sliders at that point, but otherwise I think my first impression was very positive....I certainly do not have the overwhelmingly negative impression that Klownpoet seems to have.

Though you make SOME valid points in 5 minutes I have seen about 4 threads started by you on here and everyone is you complaining about something. Why dont you make one thread and call it KLOWNPOET'S GRIPES. Heck maybe they will make it a sticky so you can just keep adding to it.

This is very true...you have had the game for one night, and you came on here to complain about everything....I don't think any of us has enough games under our belts to make a definitive decision on anything...and if you just want to bitch, at least do it in one place!

[jdros13]

Re: From SIM (WSB2k3) to arcade (MLB2k5)

I have never played WSB2k3 so I don't know about that game, but I played High Heat for a couple of years on PC and Console and liked it and that is considered a pretty "sim" game in the baseball videogame world. This game out of the box appears to be a big improvement over last years version. The only gripes so far I have are:

-Too many HR's (I was playing on All-Star though, and my too many HR game had Slam Zone on...only one of the HR's was a Slam Zone HR but that set up may allow for more...I'll find out in a week or so after I have played more).

-Not enough balls thrown by my pitcher (when I was Randy Wolf I was dominant...much less so with Brett Myers who actually walked one batter! I would imagine it is nearly impossible to miss with Pedro or the Unit with KZone though...once again we'll see)

-I suck at the new baserunning (but that is my fault for having uncoordinated thumbs last night...I'm sure I will get used to it and like it, it does give me more control than any other baseball game has ever given me).

Other than that, the presentation is great, graphics are a 1000% improvement over last season's engine, the game actually supports widescreen and doesn't stretch the players out when I put my TV in full mode, all of the major animations I saw last night seemed to be improved, there is no more flyball lock cutscene that drove me nuts in 2k4, and I thought the game was much more fun than 2k4 was. I don't tend to play around with sliders (I like to assume the programmers attempted to create a balanced game that works until proven otherwise). I'm pretty sure that if legend doesn't fix the HR problem I'll mess around with the sliders at that point, but otherwise I think my first impression was very positive....I certainly do not have the overwhelmingly negative impression that Klownpoet seems to have.

Though you make SOME valid points in 5 minutes I have seen about 4 threads started by you on here and everyone is you complaining about something. Why dont you make one thread and call it KLOWNPOET'S GRIPES. Heck maybe they will make it a sticky so you can just keep adding to it.

This is very true...you have had the game for one night, and you came on here to complain about everything....I don't think any of us has enough games under our belts to make a definitive decision on anything...and if you just want to bitch, at least do it in one place!